$50,000 Reward Posted for Identity of Anonymous Op-Ed Writer

Someone identified as a “prominent Republican donor” is reportedly offering a $50,000 reward for the identity of the person who claims to be a high-ranking member of President Donald Trump’s administration who penned an anonymous Op-Ed piece for the New York Times and claimed they were working to actively protect the country from some of the president’s actions.

Charlie Kirk, founder of the conservative campus activist group Turning Point USA, went on Twitter early Thursday morning to announce the reward offer.

Just got off the phone with a prominent Republican donor

He is offering $50,000 cash to information that will lead to the identification and termination of the New York Times “anonymous” author

The reward offer comes in reaction to the Op-Ed published Wednesday and titled, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The Times would only identify the writer as “a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us.”

The paper said it was taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed “because we believe it is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers.”

The writer claimed that the “resistance” described in the piece is not the case of a liberal masquerading as a conservative.

“To be clear, ours is not the popular ‘resistance’ of the left,” the writer explains. “We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.”

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Instead, the writer says the actions being taken by multiple people within the White House are being taken to protect the country from the president’s decision-making, which the writer described as amoral, impetuous, petty and ineffective.

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“The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House,” according to the anonymous writer. “Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.”

A Twitter user responding to Kirk’s report of a reward being offered suggested that the higher the reward, the more likely the source of the article would be revealed.

Get a few additional prominent donors to one million dollars and you’ll get someone from the NYT talking.

The president blasted the Times for running the piece, questioning if the writer actually works within the administration. He also said that if the piece is legitimate, the writer must be identified.

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“Does the so-called ‘Senior Administration Official’ really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source?” the president said on Twitter. “If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!”

Thursday, the Times said three high-ranking members of the administration — Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and national intelligence director Dan Coats — have each denied they were the source of the Op-Ed.

“Patently false,” said Coats when asked if he or someone on his staff wrote the piece. “We did not.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said Wednesday the Op-Ed was “another example of the liberal media’s concerted effort to discredit the president.” She also said that if the person who authored the piece is indeed a member of the administration, he or she should resign immediately.

“The individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected President of the United States,” Sanders said. “He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign.”

Scott Kelnhofer is a writer for The Western Journal and Conservative Tribune. A native of Milwaukee, he currently resides in Phoenix.

Scott Kelnhofer is a writer for The Western Journal and Conservative Tribune. He has more than 20 years of experience in print and broadcast journalism. A native of Milwaukee, he has resided in Phoenix since 2012.